Impacts of Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies are new technologies that are currently being developed or will be developed
in the next 5 to 10 years, and which will alter the business and social environment.

We are going to focus on the following emerging technologies and their impacts on everyday life.

 Artificial intelligence
 Biometrics
 Robotics
 Quantum cryptography
 Computer assisted translation
 3D and holographic imaging
 Virtual reality

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI): This is a computer science that is focused on creating

computer systems that simulate human intelligence.
AI is being developed in the following areas:
 Game Playing - Computers developed to play games against human players.
 Expert Systems - These are computers that have been programmed to make
decisions based on information they are given. For example: Medical expert systems
can diagnose patient's illnesses based on symptoms entered.
 Languages - This type of AI involves computers that can understand different human
languages as they are spoken to them.
 Robotics - Robotic artificial intelligence is where machines are programmed to
imitate humans.
Impacts of AI on everyday life:
a) Accurate prediction of weather: AI software will soon be used to sift through weather data
more accurately that humans can and will be used to predict approaching storms and
automatically issue warnings.
b) Increased leisure time: Robotic vacuum cleaners are becoming more and more popular.
These can detect walls and other objects in order to vacuum around them. People can
leave them running whilst they enjoy extra spare time.
c) Improved medical care: Robotic surgery assistants are being used to quickly and accurately
pass the correct surgical tools to doctors. The few seconds saved in getting the correct tool
to the doctor can save patient's lives.
d) Increased Personal safety: Modern home alarm systems use artificial intelligence software
that can tell the difference between the home owners and intruders. The software
automatically alerts the police when intruders are detected.

2. Biometrics: Biometrics is where parts of a person's body are used for identification
purposes. Examples are;
 Fingerprints
 Eye recognition
 Face recognition
 Voice recognition
All of these parts of the human body are unique from person to person and can be used to
authenticate identity.
Before biometric methods can be useful, people have to perform a process known as
‘biometric registration or enrolment'.
Biometrics are being used in place of passwords and physical locks as a means of security.

Impacts of Biometrics on everyday life:

 Better airport security: Iris recognition is already in use in some airports.
 Increased building security: Fingerprint access to buildings have been replacing the
older methods of locks and keys.
 Reduced car theft: Cars already exist that use fingerprints to only unlock their doors
or start the engine for the fingerprint that is registered.
 More secure mobile phones: Mobile phones contain our lives. We used our phones
for everything from social media to shopping online. They need to be as secure as
possible in order to protect the valuable data that they contain.

3 Robotics
Robots are used to perform a wide range of physical tasks.
They are either automated (controlled by a computer chip) or manually controlled by
a human.
There are 4 different types of robots:
 Manufacturing robots (used to perform repetitive tasks such as welding)
 Carrier robots (used by the military to carry heavy loads over dangerous
terrain)
 Domestic robots (used in homes to perform cleaning tasks such as
vacuuming)
 Exploration robots (used to visit and send images from places such as Mars)
Impacts of Robotics on everyday life
 Increased personal time: robots can carry out domestic chores, this frees up
more time for us to spend at work, or socialising.
 More efficient manufacturing: Robots can manufacturer products such as
cars much faster and cheaper than humans can.
 Loss of jobs: Due to higher and cheaper productivity, robots are taking over
the manufacturing jobs that used to be carried out by humans.
 Safer working environments: Robots can safely carry out tasks that are too
dangerous for humans.
4 Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is where computers are used to create an artificial environment
that users can interact with as if it were real.
It is used for the following purposes:
*Allowing architects to walk around a virtual version of their design (this
gives a better idea of what the finished building will look like)
*Training soldiers in combat (flight simulation, battlefield simulation)
*Training surgeons (virtual patients can be operated on to provide
experience to trainee surgeons).